Adjustable needle guard for sewing machines



May 18, 1937. 4 w. JACOBSON ET AL 2,080,541

ADJUSTABLE NEEDLE GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Dec. .13, 1935 INVENTOR WILL/AU JACOBSO/V FRANCIS QUEST BYM/ ATTORNEY Patented May 18, 1937 UNETED STATES ADJUSTABLE NEEDLE GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES William Jacobson and Francis E. Quest, New York, N. Y.

Application December 13, 1935, Serial No. 54,167

2 Claims.

Our present invention relates to the guarding of sewing machine needles, and more particularly to an improved and adjustable needle guard for a sewing machine of the power driven type.

Needle guards, devised for power driven sewing machines especially adapted for use in factories, should not only be exceedingly simple in construction and involve a minimum of attention on the part of the operator, but also must interfere in no way with the working efiiciency of the operator. The needle guard member itself should be exceedingly simple in construction, and readily attached to any type of sewing machine. It often happens that an operator is transferred from a sewing machine having a presser foot of one size to another machine whose presser foot has a different dimension. A needle guard should 'be constructed so that it lends itself to ready transfer between machines, and thus causes minimum interference with the operator.

The novel features which we believe to be characteristic of our invention is set forth in particularity in the appended claims; the invention itself, however, as to both its construction and method of operation will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the drawing in which we have indicated diagrammatically a construction whereby our invention may be carried into effect.

In the drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the presser foot of a sewing machine embodying the present invention,

.Fig. 2 is a view of the presser foot and attached guard taken on the reverse side of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one portion of the needle guard,

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the remaining portion of the needle guard.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing,

wherein like reference characters in the different figures designate similar mechanical elements, the numeral 2 designates the presser bar which normally depends from the head of the sewing machine. The numeral 3 denotes the needle bar; and there is secured upon the lower end of the presser bar 2, by means of the screw 4, a presser foot 5 of the usual and well known construction. A needle 6 is attached to the needle bar 3 by means of the screw 1 in the customary fashion.

The presser foot itself is of a type well known to those skilled in the art, and comprises the usual toe 5 which is provided with the spaced fingers 3 and Q. Each of these two fingers have their free ends curved upwardly-in order that the work material may readily move under them. The finger 8 is provided with a ledge 9, and it will be understood that the toe 5 is pivotally secured to the upright portion of the presser foot 5. As those skilled in the art are Well aware, the presser toe 5' is normally spring-pressed, as by spring iii, in a downward direction at the rear side of the toe portion. This type of self-adjustable presser foot is so well known in the art that it needs no further description.

The needle guard is designated by the numeral and as shown in Fig. 4 it is substantially L- shaped in configuration. The horizontal portion i 5 thereof includes a recess I2 which conforms in outline to the contour of the rear of the presser foot. The vertical portion of the guard is provided with a right angle bend whereby there is furnished the extension I3.

The extension l3 has a length substantially equal to the length of the vertical section of the needle guard, and its width is suificient to enable it to provide a grip on the rear face of the presser foot o. An aperture E4 is provided at substantially the mid-section of the extension 53; and a second aperture, of greater size than aperture i l, is denoted by the numeral I5, and is provided close to the upper edge of the vertical section of the needle guard. The vertical section of the needle guard has a complementary member 16, shown in detail in Fig. 5, and it will be observed that this member it has a length substantially equal to the length of the vertical section of the needle guard, and has an extension ll provided by bending an edge of member 5 5 at right angles.

An aperture i3 is provided close to the upper edge of member i6, and this aperture I8 is located so that it will register with the aperture l5, when the needle guard and its complamentary member it are in operative position. As shown in Fig. 3, the threaded shank I9 of screw 3 is arranged to pass through the apertures i5 and iii in order to secure the needle guard to the presser foot 5. A threaded shank 2:3 is provided substantially at the mid-section of the unbent vertical edge of member l6, and a knurled head 2i is provided with a threaded axial bore to receive the threaded shank re. The

shank 2b is arranged to pass through the aperture M in the extension it! of the needle guard; and from Fig. 3 it will be observed that proper rotation of the knurled head 2i will serve to clamp the extensions [3 and I! to the front and rear faces of the presser foot 5. In this way the upper section of the needle guard is provided with an adjustable clamping action.

The length of the horizontal portion 1 I of the guard Iii is such that it substantially covers the entire length of the finger 8. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the horizontal portion ll of the needle guard has a height such that the finger of the operator which is customarily placed adjacent finger 8 is completely guarded against any accidental piercing by needle 6. Furthermore, the height of this horizontal portion I I is made such that when the needle is at its uppermost position, the point thereof will be sufficiently below the horizontal edge i I, see Fig. 2, of the horizontal portion II to render the guard entirely fool-proof.

The inner face of the lower edge 22 of the needle guard is in contact with the vertical edge of the toe 5, and this protects substantially the entire outer edge of the finger 8. The horizontal section i i of the needle guard is provided with a stamped out portion 3% in order to render the needle guard light without in any way impairing its accident preventing properties. It is to be noted that the edge I I" serves as a guide for the thread when the operator desires to thread the needle without necessitating in any manner the removal of the finger guarding barrier. Merely by way of example, it is pointed out that in the uppermost position of needle 6, as shown in Fig. 2, the threading eye is about of an inch above the edge ll". 7

t will now be seen that the needle guard of the present invention comprises but a single plate, and the upper section of the plate having a complementary member I6 so as to positively grip the front and rear faces of the presser foot 5. Furthermore, there has been provided adjusting means for varying the spacing between the extensions ii and 13 so that presser feet of different widths may be readily gripped by the needle guard. In other words, it will be observed that the vertical section of the rieedle guard virtually provides an adjustable clamping channel member which is variable in width.

In actual usage it is very simple for the operator to use the device of the present invention. Assuming that the needle guard is in operative position, as shown in Fig. 1, and the operator desires to remove the needle guard to another presser foot which is of a different machine; it is only necessary for the operative to first rotate the screw head 4 to remove the shank 19. The shank is being removed from apertures l5 and iii, the needle guard with its complementary member iii screwed to it, is then removed. It is not necessaryto disturb the setting of head 2| since the gripping parallel edges i3 and ll of the adjustable channeledclamp can be slipped off the front rear laces of-the presser foot 5 with ease. When the needle guard is taken to the next machine, it is only necessary to pass the shank iii of the securing screw 4 through the apertures iii and iii, and then tighten the screw 4 to secure the needle guard to its new presser foot 5.

In making this new attachment if the width of the presser foot 5 is greater than the spacing between gripping edges l3 and II, it is only necessary to rotate the knurled head 2! to a sufiicient point such that the edge I3 may be moved with respect to edge l1, and thus provide a new spacing which is equal to the width of the next presser foot clamping edges l3 and I1.

5. With this new spacing the head 2| is rotated in the opposite direction to tightly clamp the front and rear faces of the presser foot between the Of course the material of the guard maybe brass or steel; it is pointed out that its particular composition is immaterial toits functioning in the present invention, except that it be rigid in nature.

It will be obvious that the present invention, due to its simplicity and positive protecting function, as well as its ready adjustment to presser feet of different widths, is of great value to owners of factories with power driven sewing machines, in that it reduces the number of accidents caused by piercing of operators fingers, and hence effects a material saving in those States where workmens compensation laws are in effect.

While we have indicated and described a construction for carrying our invention into effect, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art, that our invention is by nomeans limited to the particular construction shown and described, but that many modifications may be made without. departing from the scope of our invention, as set forth in'the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A needle guard for a sewing machine comprising a substantially L-shaped plate formed from a single piece of fiat metallic material, said plate having the vertical edge of the vertical section thereof bent at an angle to the plane of the plate, a second plate adapted to contact the vertical section of said needle guard plate, said second plate having an edge thereof bent at an angle such as to provide a clamping channel between the bent edges of thetwo plates-said second plate and the vertical section of the first plate being provided with registering apertures, and means disposed in the apertures adapted to secure said plates to the sewing machine presser foot, a threaded element extending from the unbent vertical edge of the second plate, and an aperture in the bent edge of the first plate for receiving said threaded element, and means for adjustably engaging said threaded element whereby the width of said channel maybe varied at will.

2. A needle guard for a sewing machine, said needle guard being formed from a single plate of rigid material and being shaped to provide a horizontal section and a vertical section, the horizontal section being provided with an opening to minimizethe weight of the needle guard, the horizontal section extending along the side of the sewing machine presser foot,when inoperative position, and being high enough to function as a complete barrier to an operator's finger, the vertical section being provided with an aperture to receive the means for securing the needle guard to the presser foot, and a vertical edge of said vertical section being bent at right'angles to the plane of the needle guard plate, said .bent edge being provided with an aperture, a second plate, of substantially the same configuration as the vertical section of the needle guard plate, said second plate having an aperture registering with the first named aperture of said needle guard plate, and a threaded element projecting from the second plate and adapted to register with the aperture in the bent edge of said first plate.

WILLIAM JACOBSON. FRANCIS E. QUEST. 

